The first five games of the schedule will be played at Hoops Family Field in Huntington.

Starting this Saturday, the Herd takes on Bluefield College at 2 p.m. On March 5, the Herd plays two contests, against WVU Tech at 11 a.m. and Shawnee State at 1 p.m. These three contests will not be ticketed and are free for spectators.

The Herd then plays Dayton at 2 p.m. on March 12 and concludes its home portion of the schedule on April 2, against Cincinnati at 2 p.m.

Marshall completes its spring schedule on April 9, with two games at the AdvoCare Sports Performance Center at the Greenbrier in Lewisburg, W.Va. The facility hosts the New Orleans Saints of the NFL annually for training camp. The Herd faces Virginia Tech at noon and James Madison at 3 p.m.

“We’re excited to get started and we’re trying something new by starting so early,” Gray said. “In the past the issue we’ve always had is spring break usually runs right in the middle. It’s difficult to stop and get started again so we wanted to get two matches in before spring break.

“We had several young kids redshirt in fall and we want to see them play. There are some strong Division I opponents on the schedule to go along with some traditional small college powers. Spring is a chance for players to get a jump on the fall and make their mark with us and we hope the weather will cooperate.”